Friedrich Augustus Loeffler (1852-1915)

Friedrich Augustus Loeffler (1852-1915), one of the foremost
golden-era bacteriologists, received his MD in Berlin (1874). From 1879 to 1884 he worked
as assistant to Koch at the Imperial Health
Office, also in Berlin. He also worked as a physician at the Friedrich Wilhelm Institute,
and in 1888 became Professor of Bacteriology at the University of Greifswald.

Loeffler introduced special stains (now known as "Loeffler stains") and a special
serum (Loeffler's serum) for detecting the bacteria that cause diptheria. In 1887
he founded the journal Zentralblatt fur Bakteriologie und
Parasitik. His 1884 publication about the cause of diphtheria led to the antitoxin
treatment of 1890. (See Behring.)

There is a Friedrich Loeffler Institute near Greifswald.
Loeffler was photographed at his bench microscope c.1910.